Albrecht Obermaier (9 July 1912 – 1 August 2004) was a German naval officer who served in the Kriegsmarine in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and in the postwar

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He reached the rank of ''

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...

'' (vice admiral), serving as the first chief of the Navy Office, and as commander of Naval Forces Baltic Approaches for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Career

Obermaier began his education in the German merchant marine in 1931, and twice circumnavigated twice

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...

in a

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

. In 1933, he joined the new Kriegsmarine of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. During World War II, he was an officer in fast attack craft units, reaching the rank of ''

Korvettenkapitän () is the lowest ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer rank () in the German Navy. Address The off ...

'' (lieutenant commander). From March 1941 to July 1944, he commanded the 6th Fast Attack Craft Flotilla (german: 6. Schnellbootsflottille), which was used in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. After the war he worked as a sales representative, and served as an advisor to the Egyptian Navy. In 1956, Obermaier joined the new ''

Bundesmarine The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

''. Initially, he served at the

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at ...

. In 1959, he was made head of the command responsible for commissioning of naval craft, and in 1960 he became the first commander of '' Zerstörer 5'' (the former U.S. Navy destroyer ''Dyson''), which he led until the end of 1961. In January 1964, he was promoted to ''

Flottillenadmiral Flotilla admiral is the lowest flag rank, a rank above captain, in the modern navies of Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden. It corresponds to the ranks of commodore or rear admiral (lower half) in the navies of the United ...

'' (flotilla admiral) and made commander of the Naval Command North Sea (german: Marineabschnittskommando Nordsee). In October 1964, Obermaier was promoted to ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

'' (rear admiral), and made commander of Naval Central Command (german: Zentrales Marinekommando), serving until September 1965. In March 1966, he was appointed the first head of the Navy Office. In December 1966, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Fleet, and from April 1967 to September 1968 he was the Chief of Staff of the German Defence Staff, serving under Inspector General

Ulrich de Maizière Karl Ernst Ulrich de Maizière (; 24 February 1912 – 26 August 2006) was a German general. He served in the army of three German states: the ''Reichswehr'' of the Weimar Republic, the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany, and the German Army of We ...

. In October 1968, Obermaier was promoted to ''

'' (vice admiral) and took up the command of Commander, Naval Forces Baltic Approaches, based at

Karup Karup is a town in Viborg Municipality, Denmark. Notable people * Morten Bødskov Morten Bødskov (born 1 May 1970 in Karup) is a Danish Social Democratic politician, and member of the Folketing, currently serving as the Minister for Busine ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He served in this position until his retirement in 1971.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obermaier, Albrecht 1912 births 2004 deaths Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II Bundesmarine admirals People from Freising NATO military personnel Vice admirals of the German Navy